Right then... Here we go. Bruges.

So my 04:30 bus from Cardiff to London was slowed due to Monday morning traffic which resulted in very nearly missing my bus from London to Bruges. So I got stressed before I even left Wales. Which, to be fair was probably as expected.

I then proceeded to get shouted at by the very angry little Dutch bus driver because I didn't have the right little bit of paper immediately available. So I got stressed even after I left Wales. Which, to be fair was probably as expected.

We then lost two passengers. Quite a feat on a bus. We had to stop at passport control at the channel tunnel. This old couple decided they wanted to go have a look around the shops while the bus quietly pulled away. So we then had to all engage in a game of "who wants to tell the already angry driver". I kept quiet. All in all, it meant we had to do various loops around the tunnel, without actually going through it. So we missed the train and had to wait. So I got stressed as I was leaving the UK. Expected.

After a tedious 13 hr total journey I arrived in Bruges. I was sat next to this Canadian girl, Jamie, who was staying at the same hostel as me, so at least we could jointly meander meaninglessly around the little streets, looking more like tourists than even the most hardcore Japanese photographer with a really really long lens. We did nearly get run over by a horse at one point, so maybe the lens would've been helpful. To be fair though, it wasn't that hard to find and its a really cool little hostel.

I soon discovered, though, that my social ability is somewhat lessened after 13 hours on a bus. I proceeded to sit quietly amongst a big gaggle of people, saying nothing and getting looked at oddly. I looked in a mirror. Hair. Everywhere. Oh well.

Walk time. Bruges is beautiful. Everything you'd imagine really. Canals, massive buildings and, as its May, loads of blossom and newly in bloom trees. The sun was even out. So I went to bed. Knackered.

Next day was much better. In amongst all the various different nationalities (loads of Canadians, Japanese and Chinese),I met a guy from Bridgend. 20 mins from cardiff. So we sat in this kitchen in Bruges, talking about life in South Wales. Anyway, he invited me along to a few things he had planned that day, including walking the Belfry. 366 steps up a spiral staircase narrower than penne pasta. Stressed..? Me? Nah. We frequented a bar or two and drank some rather strong ale, so the day only improved from there. I'm just glad we got the stairs out of the way early. I saw loads of really cool interesting stuff - an original Michelangelo carving, an amazing little underground tavern and a mad Mexican fella who slept in the bunk beneath me who seems to exist solely on tequila. He woke up this morning, immediately had a massive breakfast and has been passed out since. Every now and then he says 'mal du pork' which apparently is a Mexican saying for "holy s*** I've eaten too much and need tequila".

Today has been chilled, a bit more walking around and I met these two guys who are cycling across Europe. One is Italian and the other is Ecuadorean but they both speak about 7 languages each so it's really hard to keep up. They stop in major cities but apart from that just set up a tarporlene in between two trees and camp wild. They're awesome.

I'm fairly sure I've walked more in this past 3 days than the last 3 months but It's been an absolute blast! Brussels tomorrow and then Cologne for 3 days after that. After that... Who knows...?

Loves to everyone.
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